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Trump had two qualities that set him apart from the "responsible adult" candidates. First a willingness to entertain outside views. For all the accusations of him being a closet authoritarian and being unable to take criticism his staffing choices were notably devoid of the usual "yes men". If anything he seemed to be going out of his way to avoid them. Second, and most important in the eyes of the GOP base, he displayed a willingness to stand and fight. As I've said before, if Cruz had told Trump to go fuck himself when Trump made that comment about his wife's looks during the debate or gone full scorched earth-on the Washington Post for going after his kids and their elementary school teacher, Cruz would have been the 46th POTUS. That he didn't, was interpreted as a sign that he lacked the 'grit' required to stand up for his own, and by extension his voters' interests, and that perception is ultimately what lost him the race.
100% agreed. "He fights" was the #1 reason people were willing to put up with all of Trump's other obvious faults. It doesn't matter if Cruz was better on every policy, failing to react to attacks on his wife and kids was fatal to an electorate who just wanted a candidate to treat the media like the hostile operatives of the Democrat party they are.
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